This mindful eating checklist should be what you do at each and every meal to help build a better relationship with eating.

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How often do you find yourself scarfing down a plate of food in a rush so you could get back to work, parenting, that Netflix show, or just other random life things?

It’s common.

You’ve fallen into a pattern that has turned eating into an afterthought.

And when your food choices and eating patterns are not being made in the present, it’s easy to allow emotion to control the process.

This is where decision fatigue sets in and leads to you making poor food selections.

It’s also where you blow right by your natural body signals that regulate hunger. Messing up your hunger cues can lead to unwanted weight gain or even disorder eating patterns.

Go back to that example of scarfing down your plate.

After eating the food that fast, how often does that rapid meal end up coming back to haunt you in the form of a sluggish, bloated, over-full feeling in your stomach?

Today, we’re going to talk about the importance of being present while you eat. You’re going to get a mindful eating checklist that you should follow at each and every meal.

Follow this roadmap to help repair your eating habits and start learning how to listen to your body’s signals.

Let’s get into it.

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Before we dive into the mindful eating checklist, we need to step back and talk a bit more about mindfulness in general.

Mindfulness is not meditation. Although, the two are often confused and/or conflated for one another.

Being more mindful simply means blocking out the random noise and thought patterns going on in your brain to focus on the exact task you are doing.

Even if that task is nothing.

You’ve been hardwired to always be plugged in––and taking a literal detox from technology is a great way to break that habit.

Not to mention, our digital habits have led our work overlords to demand 24/7 presence to answer those mundane emails away from the office at all times.

The mind is always working.

It’s always on. You’re always thinking, processing and worrying.

Being present (or mindful) is a chance to shut that off for a minute.

And being mindful while eating provides the opportunity to be much more engaged in our daily eating habits. 

Here’s a quick mindful workout you can do every single day to prepare the mind to be more present.

In the book, “The Power Of Now” by Eckhart Tolle he encourages you to close your eyes and ask this simple question of yourself:

“I wonder what my next thought is going to be.” Then become very alert and wait for the next thought. Be like a cat watching a mouse hole. What thought is going to come out of the mouse hole?”

You cannot help but be present as a result. And now we’re going to do something similar at mealtime.

Remember this as we dive deeper into your mindful eating checklist.

So keep this article handy. Print it out if that helps. Take notes. Refer back to it early and often. 

But really practice this approach (and give yourself a while for these new habits to really sink in, too) and let’s start healing your relationship with food and eating.

Your mindful eating checklist

First we must set a few rules.

The number one rule you’ll need to follow is that all of your meals should be eaten while sitting down.

And no, sitting down in your car does not count.

In order to be present in any activity, eating included, you must make the choice to be free of all distractions. That includes driving or commuting, watching TV or even scrolling through everyone’s favorite Instagram account (that’s mine, by the way).

Appreciate what is around you.

Pay attention to how you feel. Think about your specific hunger level at this specific moment. How hungry are you on a scale of 1 (bored) to 5 (ravenous).

Focus on your food. Do your best to remove the stressors of the day from your thought patterns here and just … be.

Sounds a bit hippy dippy. I know.

But, in my experience, focusing on these items consistently have helped my Lean4Life Academy members reduce food anxiety, decrease binges, and improve adherence to their diets.

Once you’ve committed to these rules, you can settle in with the following checklist. Do this every single time you eat.

I am sitting

No more on the go snacking and rushing to scarf down your meals.

You must be sitting at meal time. If you have to rush, then the meal can wait. Or you need to make this more of a priority and develop better time management skills.

My meal fits on one plate

This does not mean trying to load up every morsel in an attempt to win a Guinness World Record for the amount of food on one plate.

But, do make sure the plate is full. Particularly if this is one of your big meals for the day (and not a snack).

I have a glass full of water next to me (and/or coffee, or tea)

This will force you to slow down a bit.

Not to mention, proper hydration is important for digestion and overall health.

I drank a full glass of water before eating or ordering

Hunger can oftentimes be masked for dehydration. Be sure to hydrate before eating to help ensure that you are in fact hungry and not thirsty.

Additionally, the added hydration might help reduce just how much you end up eating at mealtime anyway.

I am actually hungry and not bored

Really think about this one.

Are you really just bored? If you are truly hungry, you’ll be willing to eat just about anything … even your veggies.

If it’s just a craving for a slice of cake, you might just be bored.

I am eating slowly and mindfully and I am fully present

It can take up to 20 minutes for the satiety signals to transition from the stomach to the brain.

If you are a chronic speed eater, you could be stuffing your face hole to overconsumption without even knowing.

Challenge yourself here. Set a timer for 15-20 minutes as you sit down to eat and fill that time with your meal.

I am happy with my choice to eat this food before me

Don’t just subscribe to the idea that food is fuel. It is not.

Food is culture; it’s religion; it’s social interaction; it’s enjoyable.

Make food choices that reflect that and be okay with those choices.

Obviously, you’ll want to make choices that are in agreement with your goals, too. So be sure to find foods that check all of the boxes. And then be sure to have some fun foods in moderation, too.

I stopped eating when I was full

And if you are trying to lose a little weight, you’d likely want to stop at 80-percent full.

Either way, always remember that it is okay to leave a few bites of food on your plate.

You are not a garbage disposal.

I am not anxious about eating because I am never more than one bite away from being right back on track.

At the end of the day … this is where it’s at.

This is what you must remember.

And if you truly embrace this final point of the mindful eating checklist, you’ll learn how to be more consistent.

Being more consistent is how you’ll win this game in the quest to be lean for life.

My goal is to help you balance the right relationships with food and movement.

Tracking calories and hitting your macros every single day is one tool in the toolbox.

It’s a skill that most people need to practice to finally understand proper portioning.

However, calorie counting can be obsessive. And it should not be practiced in perpetuity.

Learning this mindful eating checklist is one step in learning how to eat without counting calories.

To eat more intuitively … as we are meant to be able to do as humans.

Let me help you figure how to properly utilize this mindful eating checklist … 

Finding the right time and right workout plan can be incredibly overwhelming. But, I’m here to help you out.

If you have any questions, reach out. I answer all of my emails at pete [at] petecataldo [.] com … Hit me up with the subject line “Mindful Eating Checklist” and I’ll answer any questions you have about eating more mindfully throughout your day.

Or you can hit me up anytime on the socialz on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram.

If you enjoyed this post, maybe you’d like more knowledge bombs from me. I’d be honored if you join my mailing list to get regular updates every time I post something pretty dope.